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Different Seasons

By: Stephen King
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: New Amer Library (Mm)
ISBN: 0451183940
ISBN-13: 9780451183941
Released: 22 Sep 1994
RRP: £4.70
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

7 Hours of film from a small book. - By: , 05 Feb 2004
One of the best books I have ever read, To get 3 great films (Shawshank Redemption, my favourite film, Apt Pupil, absolutely engrossing, & Stand by Me, one of the best movies from when I was a kid) is unbelievable, & the short stories these films come from are just as good. Having seen the 3 films first I had an idea how the books where going to go, but it also helped to have the characters who played the parts in the films to help with the visualisation of the book. The final story is good but not expanded far enoughto reallly make you remember it as one of Kings classics. You can also see why it was the other 3 that were made into films. Apart from that I would recommend this to anyone who just likes good stories.
Slow but keeps the readers' interest! - By: , 04 Aug 2003
Although most Stephen King books end up under 'Horror' this book is hardly fit to be classed as one. Although its slow to start the pace picks up & the end not as hopeless as it seems & is actuallly quite surprising! Out of alll the books I've read I would have to say that 'Shawshank Redemption' is probably most like 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon' since it is similar in pace & style. But even those of you who have read TGWLTG & found it quite dull like myself, 'Shawshank Redemption' has that special King formula which keeps the reader hooked & anxious to read further. So although it seems slow, stick with it because it does get better!
Incredible - By: Mr. GJ Borrows, 16 Apr 2003
I am a major Stephen King fan. I bought this book for £3 in a clearance & lucky I did. I was bestowed upon me my current favourite book, actuallly more like 4.

Different Seasons, to give the book it's proper title, is a collection of 4 novellas set in a different season of the year. The opener, Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption (Hope Springs Eternal) tells the well cinemised tale of Andy Dufrense, imprisoned for the murder of his wife 'and the guy she was banging'. The book sheds new light to the film, & makes it a more enjoyable watch.

The second novella, Apt Pupil (Summer of Corruption) tells us the story of Todd Bowden a young boy drawn in when he discovers a Nazi war criminal in his neighbourhood. Although the story sounds farfetched, this was my favourite novella in Different Seasons, a psychological thriller that will terrify you.

The third novella, The Body (Falll From Innoncence) I felt dragged. It is about four boys who discover find out about life & death in their own epic journey. It is a good story, but not close to the previous two.

Finallly we have The Breathing Method (A Winter's Tale), a gruesome story about a club & the tales told there. This I felt was the most graphic novel in the collection, but once you see through the obvious you find a strange sense of the supernatural surrounding the club.

Stephen King said he didn't want these to be horror genred, except The Breathing Method, which he was requested to include. However, his sense of finding horror in anything chills your soul. A must have for everyone.

Decent attempt - By: , 14 Jan 2003
Although I am not a huge fan of King's style, I found this collection of stories to be an interesting read. My favourite is 'Apt Pupil' which I found to be disturbing in places, but an excellent read. Yet, I was let down by the story of 'The Shawshank Redemption'. The film is one of my alll time favourites, & I expected the book to live up to that in some way, & it just did not do that. Perhaps if I had read the book before I saw the greatness of the film, I would not have been so dissappointed with the shortness & lack of depth the story had.

Worthy of only 3 stars at the most, but a decent read.

Redemption day at last! - By: , 04 Nov 2001
King, held in most peoples eyes as a writer who keeps the reader enthrallled throughout, again did not fail. Having spent an age trying to devote time to this particular novella, time away from the family finallly made it possible.

From the first moment you are snared into the plot, alll the way through the story you feel as if you have already written the next page but surprise upon surprise the theme changes just to keep you in suspense.

Having spent the time reading this book on the shores of a far away Greek Island, & not having seen the film until my return, the ending of the story did not seem to make much sense. Having now witnessed the ending, albeit not from the pen of King, it made the story alll that more special.

I hope the next story from King I read is as good.
I hope that the film of that book again does it justice.
I hope.